Care begins with dignity, information and respect.
People receiving mental-health care have rights. This page explains key rights under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 and provides a practical reference for patients and families connected with Sunrise Foundation Rehabilitation Centre.
Your rights are not an optional extra.
The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 has a dedicated chapter on the rights of persons with mental illness. It covers access to mental healthcare, protection from cruel or degrading treatment, equality and non-discrimination, information, confidentiality, medical records, communication, legal aid and complaints about deficiencies in services. Official Act text.
Access
The Act recognises a right to access mental healthcare and treatment from mental-health services run or funded by the appropriate Government, within its statutory framework.
Equality
Persons with mental illness are entitled to equality and protection from discrimination in healthcare on grounds identified in the Act.
Dignity
The Act protects persons with mental illness from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and from physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse.
What patients should be able to understand and ask about
Information about care
The Act provides rights to information about admission criteria, the nature of the person’s mental illness and the proposed treatment plan, including known side effects, in a language and form the person can understand.
Confidentiality
Information relating to a person receiving treatment is protected by confidentiality provisions, including statutory limits on releasing photographs or information to media without consent.
Medical records
The Act gives persons with mental illness a right to access their basic medical records, subject to the limited statutory exceptions.
Personal contact
The Act recognises rights relating to visitors, telephone or mobile calls and electronic communication, subject to reasonable times, establishment norms and statutory provisions.
Legal aid
The Act provides for free legal services to a person with mental illness for exercising rights under the Act, subject to its provisions.
Complaints
A person has a right to make complaints about deficiencies in the provision of services. See the dedicated Sunrise grievance page for practical next steps.
Every person deserves respectful treatment.
The Act states that persons with mental illness should be treated equally to persons with physical illness in healthcare and prohibits discrimination on specified grounds.
Respectful environment
- No degrading or abusive treatment
- Protection from physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse
- Equality in healthcare provision
- Statutory protections concerning living conditions and emergency services
What families can do
- Ask for information the patient or nominated representative is entitled to receive
- Ask how concerns or complaints can be raised
- Keep communication respectful and focused on safety
- Seek appropriate professional or legal help when needed
About the legal framework
This page is an accessible summary of selected rights under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. It is not a substitute for the Act, rules, regulations, orders or legal advice. The statutory wording and exceptions control where there is any difference between this summary and the law.
Official source: India Code — Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
What the registration information means
Sunrise Foundation’s current registration documentation identifies the establishment as provisionally registered under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, with a stated capacity of 50 beds.
What we can state
Provisionally registered under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The documented registration capacity is 50 beds.
What this page does not claim
This page does not claim permanent registration, accreditation, government certification, treatment outcomes or any specific clinical result.
Raise the issue clearly and safely.
For a non-urgent concern, use the appropriate grievance process and describe what happened, when it happened and what resolution you are seeking. An immediate medical or safety emergency requires urgent assistance rather than waiting for a routine complaint process.
Non-urgent concern
Start with the centre’s designated contact or grievance process.
View Complaints & GrievanceUrgent emergency
Immediate medical danger, serious injury, loss of consciousness, severe breathing difficulty, seizures or another acute emergency requires urgent medical attention.
Contact Sunrise FoundationKnow the wider support system.
Patient rights are one part of the larger framework covering family information, rehabilitation, mental-health support, programmes, facilities and governance.
Sunrise Foundation Rehabilitation Centre, Plot No. 256, Suraj Farm House, near Vrindavan Society, Kalote Phata Stop, Rayati Gaon, Khalapur, Raigad, Maharashtra 410203.